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August 2025 Collection Weight Was 2,692 Pounds
Plus $3,021 Cash & Check Donations Contributed to CORA
Thanks so much for helping with our August 2025 collection!
We did it again! For four straight months, our food collections have exceeded the amounts for those months at any time in the past. Our August totals were 2,692 pounds of food and $3,021 in monetary donations. These numbers are very impressive for a summer collection! From May to August this year, we collected a total of 11,057 pounds--5 1/2 tons. Our community has really responded in a big way to the cuts in government food assistance. Thank you!!!
November 2022 collection weight was the highest since 2011.
November 2024 collection weight was the second highest since 2022.
Our ongoing 12-year impact report documenting the cumulative total of monthly weights and measures and the value of annual collections is located in a table on the Collection Amounts page.
Dear PORCH Chatham Friends,
Whew—this summer heat is no joke! But thanks to your continued generosity, the nutritious food is rolling in, and we’re feeding families across Chatham County. It truly takes a village, and this community shows up with heart every time.
We’re thrilled to share that PORCH Chatham donated over 109,000 pounds of food last year, an incredible milestone! A full report will be in your inbox soon, but for now, know how grateful we are for every pound, every porch, and every person who helped make that happen.
Help Us Grow PORCH Chatham!
CORA is hoping to expand PORCH Chatham into several new neighborhoods, including Chatham Crossing, Legend Oaks, Manns Crossing, The Preserve at Jordan Lake, and Vineyards at Chatham Park.
If you live in, or know someone who lives in, one of these communities and has a passion for feeding neighbors in need, we’d love to connect! PORCH works because of dedicated volunteers like you.
Let me know if someone comes to mind! Or share this message on Social Media or Next Door.
Most Needed Foods for September 2025 Will Be Osted Here Soon:
In Case You Missed It
CORA’s Executive Director, Melissa Beard, recently spoke with ABC 11, alongside Jason Kanawati Stephany from the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC, to raise awareness about food insecurity and the impact of summer hunger. The interview highlights the importance of programs like SNACK! and the crucial role local food pantries play in ensuring kids' nutritional needs are met. Watch the full interview here. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=24189404040716754
Message from CORA
I am sharing with you a letter from CORA, reaffirming our unwavering commitment to those facing hunger in Chatham County and our pledge to continue working diligently with the community to address all needs as they arise. Feel free to share this far and wide.
Thank you for showing up month after month with kindness, consistency, and heart! We couldn't do our work without you by our side.
With gratitude,
Rebecca
Thank you for your continued level of extraordinary generosity.
Fearrington residents can also safely make a cash donation online by using this button. 100% of your donation goes directly to CORA.
We could not do this monthly collection without our volunteer drivers who cover several neighborhoods.
To donate funds to CORA securely online, use this button.
The curated food list including the November 2024 items that best match CORA's Inventory needs for providing families with the food they need most is posted below on this page.
Photos Above Are Views of CORA's New Building
On April 18, 2024, Jon and I attended a meeting at CORA for the leaders of all the Chatham PORCHes. Ours was the first PORCH in Chatham County, but, as you can see, there are now many of us, including a new one at Chatham Park. Our umbrella organization, PORCH Communities, continues to grow too, with numerous chapters in 12 states.
See the photo below.
At the meeting, we learned about all the ways that our food donations are so important to CORA. Because the pantry gets mostly non-name brand food and limited varieties from their food bank sources, our donations add much appreciated quality and choice for the folks who come to CORA. Also, our donations enable the pantry to purchase less food and use their money for more outreach and new programs (they recently partnered with DoorDash, which delivers food directly to children's homes and eliminates the stigma of receiving backpacks filled with food at school).
Next month's collection from coordinators will be on Monday, September 22, 2025.
See the article on the June 05, 2021 community celebration and award presentation from CORA.
Next Community Pick-Up & Delivery Date to CORA is
Next Collection Date: Monday, September, 2025.
New Food Donors Can Sign Up Online.
We're continuing the usual neighborhood collection patterns again for September 2025. Neighborhood Coordinators will distribute more specific information for food donations. See the current PORCH Fearrington food donation guidelines page.
More than 50% of the food CORA distributes to hungry families is donated! This source of food is VERY IMPORTANT to us! To make sure your donation of food does the most good, keep the following guidelines in mind.
Please DO NOT USE GLASS CONTAINERS. They Easily Break and Result in Wasteful Spills!
We also need paper bags, plastic bags, and egg cartons!
Just a few reminders:
Due to food safety, we ask that you do not donate food items that are unsealed, loose items without ingredients listed, or glass containers.
Please make an effort not to donate food that’s past its “use-by” or “sell-by” date. We are committed to serving our families the most nutritious and delicious food that we can in an atmosphere of dignity and respect,
While plastic bags are OK for the donations, it is a lot easier for our collecting and transferring the food when we arrive at CORA if you use PAPER bags (which are a renewable resource), rather than plastic bags (which are not recyclable). The contents often fall out of plastic bags, making the handling of large volumes of food more difficult. If plastic bags are easier for you, feel free to use them for your donations. CORA likes to have a supply of plastic bags on hand for people who come for the donated food, so please do donate those empty plastic bags you do not need.
If you would also like to make a cash donation to CORA, you can safely and conveniently do so by using this secure link: Your donation will go directly to CORA and you will receive an immediate receipt in reply (or you can request that one be sent to you in the mail if you prefer).
CORA accepts donations of shelf-stable foods — canned fruit/vegetables, boxed cereals, rice, pasta, baking mix and shelf-stable specialty items (drink mix, coffee, tea, pancake mix, condiments, herbs and spices, ethnic foods, other pantry staples, etc.). They also accept paper products – especially bathroom tissue and paper towels – and personal hygiene items like toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, soap, disposable razors, etc.
Also Check Out the Items CORA Always Needs
CORA has also developed a list of items that you can add to the "Most Needed" list throughout the year and is confident that these products will move quickly all year long.
Cereal Bars
Pancake Mix
Sugar
Flour
Oil
Salt & Pepper
Sweet Spices - Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice
Svory Spices - garlic, basil, parsley
Tissues
Toothbrushes & Toothpaste
Soap
Deodorant
Toilet paper
They do give out coffee. Instant coffee, K-cups, and ground coffee are all appreciated. They ask that people don't donate whole beans.
If you prefer to send a check, please make it payable to CORA and send it to:
CORA
PO Box 1326
Pittsboro, NC 27312
(If you note “Fearrington PORCH” in the memo space on your check, they will know it came from us.)
Since PORCH Fearrington began in 2011, residents have donated $221,936 to CORA.
Thank you so much for your help in spreading the word about CORA's need.
Many of our neighbors are traveling, so it's especially important for those who are here to help out this month and maybe give a little more than usual.
Some of you have asked whether CORA prefers donations of food or cash. The answer is that they need both. CORA certainly does appreciate and need cash donations. However, they also need donations of food. The food they are able to purchase from food banks and grocery stores is very limited. For example, they may only be able to get one variety of soup. Their clients really appreciate the opportunity to choose from among several varieties, as their families, like ours, have preferences. Many of the items on CORA's monthly request lists are not available elsewhere.
So, for some of you, especially those who are unable to shop regularly, cash donations are fine. But those who are able to get to the grocery store and purchase a little more than what is needed in their household are addressing a really important need in our community.
In October 2019, we surpassed the 200,000 pounds (100 tons) milestone since our inception in 2011!
Since the PORCH model began in Chapel Hill 13 years ago, PORCH communities have collected the equivalent of $4.3 million. PORCH Communities are really making a difference!
In April 2016, we exceeded the first 100,000-pound milestone since beginning the program!
See the Posted 2025 Collection Dates.
May 2024 was the 13th Anniversary of the Founding of PORCH Fearrington.
Since May 2011, we have collected and delivered 361,164 pounds (180.6 tons) and remain CORA's largest single contributor of residentially donated food.
PORCH (People Offering Relief for Chapel Hill Carrboro Homes) is a concept started by three women in Chapel Hill, NC in 2009 as a way to facilitate contributions to local food banks. The concept is a simple one; participants leave food on their porches once a month, and neighborhood coordinators pick it up. Organizers collect the food from the neighborhood coordinators and deliver it to a local food bank. The organization has been growing and was featured in a November 2010 issue of Redbook magazine. Chapters now exist throughout the Triangle and as far away as California. You can check out their website at https://porchcommunities.org/.
A short video on the history of the national PORCH program, which began in Orange County, North Carolina:
We owe a big thank you to our July 2025 collectors and the drivers/loaders who each collected portions of the food contributions to CORA: Beth & Ray Essington, Anne & Mike Grimmer, Regina Indyk & Cheryl Krier, and Travus & Reggie Blue on the CORA truck was really terrific.
Note our CORA Donation Guidelines page.
PORCH-Fearrington was organized by the Fearrington Havurah, a Jewish sponsored social, cultural and educational organization open to all residents of the Fearrington Community and Galloway Ridge.
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